big bad blog

Again, inspired by the legions of crazy, I feel the need to rant about the basic rules of reality.

When we have differences and argue with people, we have a tendancy to become polarized. Once we take up a position, our egos really don’t like the idea of being wrong, so we tend to end up believing that “we” are “right” and “they” are “wrong”.

One of the most useful lessons I take from taoism is the concept of balance, which is similar to the buddhist Middle Path. Its like believing “never say never” in the same way christians believe in “love your neighbour”. its not just a good idea, its pretty much compulsory if you want to live a happy life.

A real world example I’ve recently hit is anarchists vs the police. I know people on both sides. Some of them are good people, some of them are tossers.

The anarchists believe “all police are bastards”. They’ve had run ins in the past and they haven’t exactly been polite.

The police know the anarchists are all drugged up violent punks. They know this because they’ve seen the drugs and have the scars from the “peaceful protests” to prove it.

And yet…I know both sides and they’re both good people, so what gives? I know people on both sides who would risk their lives in a riot/ex-peaceful protest to save me from the other side without a second thought

The problem is that neither side understands the other, they only see what they want to see so they can keep justifying their actions. Try and explain to an anarchist that a fight is the last thing a copper wants at 2am on a friday night and they’ll look at you like you just licked their mother. Tell a constable that those squatters are fighting for his freedom and he’ll tell you stories of the trail of destruction they can leave.

So go find your enemies and understand them. Work out why they do what they do what they do. Victory comes so much easier when you realise you never have to fight them in the first place.